World Day of Bread - Cornbread

I'm back in business! After months of not posting in my beloved blog, I'm back in the blogging world. I have to give some of the credit for getting me back into it to my good friend Chelle. If she hadn't told me about the World Day of Bread, I would have probably gone weeks or months without posting anything. So thanks for being the extra little motivation I needed Chelle! I am so excited to be participating in World Day of Bread. I love the smell of fresh bread baking in my home. And I have, sadly, not had a whole lot of time to do much bread baking lately. So I am going to use this event to help motivate me to make more time for trying different bread recipes in the near future.

My one and only issue was that I was afraid I wouldn't have time to make something and blog it before the deadline. I knew I definitely wouldn't have time to do a yeast bread. And I couldn't come up with any quick breads that I either hadn't tried yet or was interested in making. So I consulted my other good friend, Martha Stewart. Now I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook is a must have if you're as in love with baking as I am. Some of the recipes seem a little intimidating or daunting, but there's really something for everyone in here. And there are pictures for every recipe, which I love. But my favorite thing about this book is the detail. Martha has taken so much time to explain how things work and what tools you'll really need to do what. There is so much attention to detail in this book, that even a novice baker, like myself, would feel comfortable tackling even the most intimidating recipe.

So I went to my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook in search of a relatively simple, no yeast, bread recipe. There were so many options, but I decided on the cornbread. Cornbread is something that I have not mastered yet, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try another recipe. The flavor of this cornbread is amazing. The only thing I may do next time is not use skim milk. I think a little milk fat would add some flavor and moisture. Outside of that, this cornbread recipe is very yummy and I will definitely be making it again.

Cornbread (source: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook pg 51-52)

1/3 cup vegetable shortening, plus more for pan
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable shortening; set aside. Melt butter in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat; add corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn has softened and some of the kernels have begun to turn light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the cornmeal. Using a pastry blender, cut shortening into mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, egg and reserved corn; stir to combine. Do not overmix.

Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake until the top begins to turn golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Martha's Notes: Sauteed corn moistens this cornbread, but you can moit it if you are using the bread in a traditional stuffing. For a spicy variation, add two medium jlapenos, seeded and finely chopped, to the corn before sauteeing. Cornbread is best served the day it is bakes, but it can be kept at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic, for up to 1 day.

Corn Muffins

The recipe for perfect cornbread continues to elude me. I was in the mood to bake some muffins the other night, and I have a ton of cornmeal to use up. So I decided to break out my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and give their recipe for cornbread a try. I find that I don't use my cookbooks a lot, and this particular cookbook does not get the attention it deserves. It's one of those cookbooks that is a staple in any kitchen. There are so many timeless, classic recipes in there, and I always seem to forget about it.

I'm glad I tried this recipe because it is quite good and very easy to throw together. It's a little crumbly for my liking, but still very tasty. And definitely still worth trying. I will definitely make these again.

Corn Muffins (source: Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition Cookbook)

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2-3 tbsps sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter

In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a small bowl combine eggs, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

Spoon batter into 12 greased, or paper lined, muffin cups, fillinf cups two thirds full. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 15 minutes or until lightly browned anda wooden toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Irish Soda Bread

I grew up in a big Irish Catholic family and St. Patrick's Day was always a big event in our house. We always went to the parade in Baltimore and my mom always (actually she still does) decorated the house with all kinds of Shamrocks and other green things. I even took a few years of Irish Step dance lessons and danced in the parade on a float a couple of years in a row. One thing I had never done, though, is make an Irish Soda Bread. So I decided to look for a recipe and give it a shot this year.

I searched blogs and websites and finally decided on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I really do love this site. It has become my go-to site for tried and true recipes. This recipe was amazing. It turned out more beautiful and delicious than I thought it would. The only issue I had was when it came time to knead the dough. The recipe says that the dough will be sticky. Well, that may very well be the biggest understatement of the century. In the future, I will let my KA mixer do the kneading. I will definitely be keeping this as my go-to Irish Soda Bread recipe. It was so yummy!

Irish Soda Bread (allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup white sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups raisins
1 tbsp caraway seeds (I omitted these because I couldn't find them in the store)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round cast iron skillet or a 9 inch round cake pan (I used a cake pan).

In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tbsp), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liqiud mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 strokes. Dough will be sticky (they aren't kidding!) Place the dough in prepared skillet or pan and pat down. Cut a 4x3/4 inch deep slit in the top of the bread. Dust with reserved flour.

Bake in preheated oven for 65-75 minutes. Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.

Tastes great toasted with butter or jam!

Honey Wheat Bread

I have actually already made this bread before. But I haven't made it since I started my blog. I guess I forgot how easy it was to make. This was my first yeast bread ever, and I think it is the perfect bread for someone who has never used yeast before. It is very easy and has very few ingredients. the only issue is that the instructions from allrecipes.com left out a few helpful tips. First of all, it just says to dissolve the yeast in the warm water. It doesn't describe how long this will take or what it will look like. Basically, it takes about 10 minutes and the mixture should get foamy. This is called proofing. I didn't know this when I first made the bread, but luckily I was able to enlist the help of my nestie friends, so it was still a success.
Another thing I didn't know when I first made this loaf was how to shape a loaf so that it looks pretty. You'll notice from the white bread I made a while back, that I didn't learn this until recently :-) Actually, I believe Amber was the one who told me how to roll it out into a rectangle and then roll it into a log and tuck the ends in. My loaves turned out much better this time, so thanks for the tip Amber :-)
If you have never made a yeast bread before, but are interested in taking the plunge, I'd highly recommend this recipe. it is so easy and very delicious. It doesn't really make good sandwich bread because it's very sweet. But it's perfect for breakfast/snacks. I love to make it into French Toast. Yum!

Honey Wheat Bread (source: allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup honey (I used more like 1/2 cup)
  
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 5 cups all-purpose flour (I only ended up adding 4 cups of flour. 5 cups of flour makes this bread very dense)

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. This should take about 10 minutes. The yeast is dissolved when the mixture is foamy. Add honey, and stir well. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes (I let my KA Stand Mixer do the work for me here). When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans (this should take about 45 minutes to an hour).

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

Mmmmmmmuffins!

I woke up this morning and remembered that I had 2 huge bananas on my kitchen table. I went in and saw that they were way too ripe to eat. I remembered that I had made a banana bread recipe that I found on Amber's blog a while back and that I hadn't made it in a while. I also remembered that the recipe hadn't made it onto my blog yet, so I decided that I'd make banana muffins for the week.

This recipe really is the best banana bread I have ever had. Its so moist and delicious. The recipe on Amber's blog calls for 3 bananas, but my 2 bananas were huge, so they were just fine. Next time, I will buy double the bananas and make a double batch. I was only able to get 10 muffins out of this recipe. but I'm not very good at making my muffins all the same size. So if it weren't for my 2 huge muffins, I may have been able to make 12 muffins :-) Here's a link to the recipe in Amber's blog.

Banana Bread (source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients
3 bananas, smashed (I used 2 very large bananas)
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nuts (I omitted these because i do not like nuts)

Directions
Combine all ingredients, except for nuts, using a mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand. Grease bread pan. Pour batter into bread pan and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Check with toothpick for doneness.

Amber says you can easily make these into muffins, which I did. You can bake the muffins at the same tempertaure, but decrease the baking time to 25 minutes. My muffins were done perfectly in 20 minutes :-)

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love when the temperature drops and I get to wear my sweaters and sweatshirts again. And I love the smell of fall. I also love the yummy baked goods that fall always brings. While I must admit that I don't really wait for fall to start baking with pumpkin, I definitely do feel so much more motivated to bake with it once the temperature changes. So when I was at the store a week ago, I picked up 3 cans of pumpkin and started keeping my eye out for new pumpkin recipes. While surfing around The Nest's What's Cooking message board, I came across a Pumpkin Bread recipe that Cara, of Cara's Cravings, says she loves. And knowing that Cara loves Pumpkin as much, if not more, than I do, I knew I had to give it a shot. I was not disappointed and I'm pondering the idea of baking a bunch of loaves of it for holiday gifts.

I did have a couple of problems with the recipe. It makes a TON of dough and the next time I make it, I will be sure not to overfill my loaf pans. I probably had enough batter to make 2 loaves, plus a few muffins. So that's what I'll do next time. I made one loaf plain for my mom, and then added chocolate chips to the rest of the dough. The problem came when I tried to fill my second loaf pan. I could see that it was filled way too high, and being that the recipe call for 1 tablespoon of baking soda, I just new it was going to overflow. Of course, I didn't think of the muffin idea until after I was finished baking the bread. There's always next time! My chocolate chip loaf did , in fact, overflow. And it did not cook all the way through. Bu I had a slice of my mom's plain, and much prettier, loaf this morning, slathered with cream cheese. It was incredible. Even with all the problems I had, I still highly recommend this recipe. It was only my first time making it, so I'm sure next time will be less of a mess. The original recipe can be found here. But I'm going to type my slightly modified version out as well :-)

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (I used one 15 ounce can of pumpkin)
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Stir in pumpkin. Pour batter into one greased 9x5 loaf pan. Add chocolate chips to the rest of dough and add to second greased 9x5 loaf pan. Be sure to only fill the pans up about 1/2 to 2/3 full. The batter does rise quite a bit. You can use any leftover batter to make muffins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until bread tests done.

Pumpkin Scones

I love pumpkin but I really haven't baked with it much yet. I did make some yummy, and healthy, pumpkin muffins. But that's pretty much it so far. I normally just use it for my pumpkin oatmeal, which is delicious by the way! Or I feed it to my dog. But I realized that I need to start baking with it more. I had some buttermilk left over from making buttermilk pancakes for dinner last week and I wanted to use it up before it went bad. I found this recipe on Annie's blog and I knew I had to try it. These scones are easy and delicious!! I'm looking forward to having them for breakfast this week. Here is the recipe, with my adjustments in italics.

Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger (i didn't have ginger, so i used ground nutmeg)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup white chocolate chips (optional) (i used semisweet chips because thats what i had)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the eggs wash:
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk or cream (i used fat free half and half)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 and place rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. I cut my butter into pieces and then refrigerated it for a few minutes so that it stayed cold. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut the circle into six equal triangles (i was able to get 8 scones out of this recipe) Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothepick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

A farewell party

Yesterday was a very bittersweet day. We had a party for my younger brother who is moving to Japan in less than 2 weeks. We are all really happy for him. He has been wanting to go there and applied for the JET program and was accepted. He will be living there for atleast a year teaching English to middle school students. it is a dream of his and I am so happy that it is happening for him. But he will definitely be missed!

We had a party for him at my aunt's house and it was a lot of fun, although it ended with some drama. My aunt fell and had to go go the hospital and my cousin almost choked. So it was eventful if nothing else. We had some wonderful food though! We had London Broil, coleslaw, pasta salad, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes, homemade French bread, and tomato slices. I didn't get any pics of the whole spread. But I do have pics and recipes for the dishes I made. I asked my brother what his favorite dessert is and he requested Oreo Truffles. I hadn't made them since the holidays, so I was excited to make them again. They are a bit tedious and messy, but so worth it. And my aunt also asked if I could bring some bread. So I decided to try my hand at making some French bread loaves. It was fun and I will definitely be making them again the next time I want some crusty bread.

I was originally going to make a recipe for Italian bread that I found on the back of my bag of bread flour. But I saw the French bread in Bean's blog and decided to give it a whirl. I doubled it so it made 2 loaves instead of one. The original recipe can be found in the manual for the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. It turned out delicious and was a huge hit.

French Bread (source: Bean's Bistro and the Kitchenaid Mixer manual)
2 packages active dry yeast
2 1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
7 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl (you can warm the mixer bowl by rinsing it with warm water). Add salt, butter and flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. turn to Speed 2 and mix until well blended, about one minute. Knead on speed 2 about 2 minutes longer. Dough will be sticky *this is where i may have made a mistake. I added all 7 cups of flour before kneading. the bread came out a bit dry. so next time i will start out by only adding 6 cups of flour and go from there.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll each half into a 12x15 rectangle. Roll dough tightly, from longest side, tapering ends if desired. place loaves on greased baking sheets that have been dusted with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

With a sharp knife, make 4 diagonal cuts on top of each loaf. Bake at 450 for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Beat egg white and water together with a fork. Brush each loaf with egg mixture. Return to oven and bake 5 minutes longer. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

Now for the truffle recipe :-)

Easy Oreo Truffles (source: Kraft Foods, and the WC nesties)
1 pkg Oreo Sandwich Cookies, divided
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
2 pkg (8 oz each) Baker's Semisweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Crush 9 of the cookies into fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin) Crush remaining 36 cookies into fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1 inch in diameter. *i rolled my truffles one at a time and i did not get 42 balls from the mixture.

Dip balls into chocolate; place on wax paper- lined baking sheets. (any leftover chocolate can be stores at room temperature for another use) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.
*i find that the easiest way to melt the chocolate is in the microwave. i also add a small amount of vegetable oil to the melted chocolate to make it easier to work with.

Did I mention that I love to bake?

I think it's in my DNA. All of my aunt's on my dad's side are bakers. My mom and her sister and my cousin all love it. I'm convinced that I was born with a baking gene. I just love it. And seriously, it's not just the eating of sweets that I love, although that is a huge part of it. I love mixing stuff together and watching it turn into something delicious. And I love feeding people sweets. Anyway, I'm always looking for healthier ways to fulfill my baking urges so that I don't feel so guilty about it. And I have a bag of whole wheat flour that needs using. I found a recipe on sparkrecipes.com for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins that sounded perfect. I love taking muffins for breakfast in weekday mornings because it's just so easy to grab one and go. These muffins were amazing! I will definitely be holding onto this recipe.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins (source: sparkrecipes.com)
Ingredients

1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
1 can (1 3/4 cups) mashed, plain pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup nonfat milk
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I didn't have any so I just used a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/ cup chopped walnuts (i omitted these since I didn't have these)

Directions

Position oven rack in center of oven.
Preheat oven to 400*F (I set my oven to 375 since i use nonstick pans)
Place foil muffins cups in a 12-cup muffin pan; or spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray, Note: Do not use paper muffin cups; muffins will stick.
Cream egg and sugar with electric mixer until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Stir in pumpkin, vanilla and milk until well-mixed.
Gently stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices until combined.
Do not over-mix.
Stir in walnuts.
Drop batter into prepared muffin pan, filling cups about 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean.

Number of servings: 12
Nutrition Facts:
Fat: 4.0g
Carbs: 28.2g
Calories: 156.5
Protein: 4.2g

And I didn't stop there! I've been buying zucchini like crazy lately and remembered that my friend Amber made zucchini bread not too long ago. Growing up, my mom always had a vegetable garden in our backyard with all kinds of homegrown veggies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini just to name a few. And she always made homemade zucchini bread. I asked her for her recipe a while back, and haven't gotten it yet, but I can't wait to try it out on my own. Amber's recipe is wonderful, but definitely a lot sweeter than I remember my mom's being.

Zucchini Bread (source: Amber's Delectable Delights)
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil (can also use applesauce)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup zucchini, loosely grated
1 1/2 cups flour (I did 3/4 cup whole wheat, 3/4 cup all purpose)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Optional - 1/2 cup chopped nuts
Optional - 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
- Beat eggs until frothy
- Add in sugar, oil and vanilla and mix until combined
- Add zucchini, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and optional ingredients (if desired) and mix until well blended
- Pour mixture into greased loaf pan
- Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes

And I baked some bread...

I have been wanting to bake a loaf (or 2) of bread for a while. But I feel like I have to have a ton of time on my hands since it has to rise for an hour, and then rise again. So I finally had some time today and decided to make white bread since I've never made it before, and Rob won't eat the Honey Wheat I also wanted to make. My good friend Michelle (of Chelle's Cooking and Baking Creations) gave me 2 wonderful recipes. I believe she got them from her Joy of Cooking cookbook. I decided to try the fast and easy one since I started feeling a headache coming on. The recipe was easy and the result was a delicious loaf of bread. It didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked, but it was delicious right out of the oven, slathered with some butter. theer goes my healthy night...

Fast White Bread

One 9x5-inch loaf

A quick and easy yeast bread designed to work with quick-rise yeast; regular active dry yeast works too.

Stir together in a large bowl or the bowl of a heavy duty mixer:

2 cups bread flour

1 T. sugar

1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry or quick-rise yeast

1 ½ tsp. salt

Add:

1 cup very warm (115-125F) water

2 T. butter or margarine, melted or softened

Mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup at a time until the dough is moist but not sticky:

1 to 1 ¼ cups bread flour

Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over to coat with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75-85F) until doubled in bulk, 40 to 45 minutes.

Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Punch down the dough, form it into a loaf, and place seam side down in the pan. Oil the surface and cover loosely with a clean cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450. Bake the loaf for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake about 30 minutes more. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Remove the loaf from the pan to a rack and let cool completely.